All results matching: "generously"

The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life and activity it affords protection to all beings Buddhist Sutra

The word nanak means fire in Persian and significantly Guru Nanak brought heavenly fire to kindle the lamp of divine light in the heart of humanity It was the light of divine love where from sprang his doctrine of holy deed above bookish creed spiritual illumination above illusive ego and saintly life above external indications Hence he proclaimed Truth is higher than everything but higher still is true living which consists of continuous meditation sincere work and sharing the proceeds One should continuously focus on essential divinity work sincerely to the best of capacity and give away something generously to others

Scientists have found that generosity made people happier and promising to be more generous was enough to trigger a change in our brain giving us pleasant feelingResearchers said those who were concerned about the wellbeing of their fellow human beings were happier than those who focused on their own advancement Doing something nice for another person gives many a pleasant feeling that behavioural economists call a warm glowUniversity of Zurich researchers investigated how areas in the brain communicated to produce this feelingHowever amount of generosity did not influence the increase in contentment You do not need to become a selfsacrificing martyr to feel happier Just being a little more generous will suffice said Philippe Tobler from the university Before the experiment so me of the participants had verbally committed to behaving generously This group was willing to accept higher costs to do something nice for others They also considered themselves happier after their generous behaviour than the control group who had committed to behaving generously towards themselves Intent alone generates a neural change before the action is actually implemented said Tobler

The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life and activity it affords protection to all beingsBuddhist Sutra The grove is the centre of their Druids whole religionTacitus The forest is not merely an expression or representation of sacredness nor a place to invoke the sacred the forest is sacredness itself Nature is not merely created by God nature is GodRichard Nelson We have chopped down the forests on earth and have planted jungles in our mindsMata Amritanandamayi What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one anotherM K Gandhi

We are aware of the blessings of elders teachers gurus and spiritual ones but never heard about money showering blessings on anyone Money is perceived as a boon or bane and sometimes it can be both but can it be a blessing also Money is very important in our life but it s not everything As a means it is a good friend but as the only goal it becomes an enemy Money is a good servant but bad master it is useful to satisfy your need but when it feeds your greed it will disturb your life That is why Mohandas Gandhi said that nature has everything to fulfill one s need but not to gratify greed So it is better not to get attached to money When money is paid to a teacher or guru it is called dakshina not expense This Dakshina comes back to us with blessings in the form of happiness contentment and prosperity The investment is the intention with which you part with money Respect money and invest it with sacred intention not only as expenditure every time for consumption When you part with money for any goods or services hand it over to others with a missionary feeling saying go help others and come back after having served the needy Goods or services once consumed are gone forever The spiritual investment comes back manifold with bonuses in the form of the fullness of life Live life comfortably and gracefully In spirituality giving does not mean losing So give generously and get enriched DISCLAIMER Views expressed above are the author39s own

Why the world was spellbound by the rescue effort in ThailandBeing stuck in dark underground caverns for over two weeks is the stuff of childhood nightmares On June 23 twelve boys belonging to the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach went adventuring into a cave near the ThaiMyanmar border But the rain came down hard filling the cave system with water and trapping them behind a kilometres long labyrinth of passages As their fellow citizens sketched a hard and brave rescue with generous help from highly skilled citizens of other countries not just Thailand but millions across the world watched transfixedAnd yesterday when the rescue was completed and the Thai navy seals declared Today the boar s pack will be reunited again tears of joy flowed in places far and strange Two British cave divers considered among the best in the world were the first to reach the boys in the Tham Luang cave Other countries also pitched in generously with divers logistic support technology It took them three different heroic sorties to rescue the entire soccer teamToday narrow nationalism seems to have dampened the spirit of globalisation It s almost as if finding ourselves neighbours with those who are different from us we start resenting them That phenomenon plays out even within India as a microcosm of the world if you consider its present rash of lynching cases But this Thai story offers a more positive vision of globalisation The drama of the rescue mission had the whole world riveted and the world celebrated as one when the boys were rescued This is a vivid reminder of a more collective vision where countries are open to each other s needs and prosper by collaboration not combat This is how fear doesn t drown hope

God is known by His noble attributes like truth allknowing loving compassionate provider forgiver benefactor etc In Sufi literature the Lord is also referred to as Beparwah defiant or immune to discipline who acts in His mauj whims or impulsive nature Consider God s contradictions He gifts life that is dying every moment He projects this creation at his own impulse without accountability while the principle of karmic retribution is applied to all Broadly man has qualities with no semblance to His virtuosity His presence is veiled in creation when He is fearless per se Despite being the Lord of compassion He advises Arjuna to fight and kill so that Dharma may prevail As GodMan or ManGod Jesus submits in perfect humility to the gallows to reaffirm the principle of the word of God To His own incarnation Rama He assigns jungles and lets the evil in Ravana game with his dedicated wife Oxymoron is He atheists may shout The Mount of Sinai is reduced to ashes just to evidence His presence to Moses He creates earthquakes volcanoes and famines yet is considered kind Can such disasters be deemed a developmental agenda for future generations The five elements of nature fire earth air water ether are made mutually inimical but generously sustain life Totally defiant in His own way yet He may be merciful Behind this fa ade there must be a grand incomprehensible purpose Not even mystics can express it Bulle Shah should have said Ki jana oh kaun Who He is instead of Ki jana mein kaun who am I

All religions ancient and modern have remarkably similar views on tithing which is the practice of giving away a tenth of your income to charity finds Reena SinghPeople ordinary everyday people all over the world willingly open their hearts and their wallets to fill up the donation boxes at thousands of shrines mosques temples and churches day after daySpread It AroundA few of the world s richest people have gone a step further than that daily or weekly short walk to a nearby temple They have pledged almost all their money to charity leaving just a fraction for their heirs Philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates now tour the world more to oversee the charitable work of their Foundation than as representatives of Microsoft Warren Buffet the world s second richest man has pledged 85 per cent of his fortunes to charity That s a lot of money to give away to charity The Gates live modest lives Buffet still lives in a fivebedroom house he has had since decades and drives himself to work I want to give my kids enough so that they feel that they can do anything but not so much that they do nothing Buffet says about leaving money to his heirsCloser home four women have made it to the Forbes 48 Most Philanthropic People s list this year Kiran Nader Rohini Nilekeni Anu Aga and Kiran MazumdarShaw Last year the list featured Sunil Mittal Shiv Nader and Anil Agarwal Almost all religions across the world have a word about tithing the practice of giving away a tenth of your income for charitable activities especially for the upkeep of the poor including orphans and widows Dashamamsha was the traditional Hindu practice of tithing giving onetenth of one s income to a religious institution This spiritual practice known as a vrata was widespread in IndiaGiving Generously Pull out the balance sheet of any big temple and you will see people giving generously and cheerfully The abode of Lord Balaji the Tirupati Temple is the richest Hindu temple trust in the world and manages a bounty of Rs 700 crore every year all money that comes in as donations from devotees This is apart from the jewellery grain and other offerings that people gift to the temple The temple owns jewellery worth Rs 50 000 crore in its vaults including antique jewellery again through offerings People especially the rich put handsome money in the hundi says Subbirami Reddy politician altruist industrialist and filmmaker who has served as chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam twice and been a board member for four years Many of our rich businessmen are not used to charity work directly but they do offer a lot of money as donation to the Tirupati Temple he says God s money then goes to charity he adds The temple trust runs several hospitals and homes for the aged and the differentlyabled It also funds green projects Sowing And ReapingThe Old Testament refers to tithing in the Books of Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Nehemia and Malachi But in the New Testament Jesus Christ emphasises Justice mercy and faith rather than mere tithes says Father Shaji Antheenattu of the St Mary s Church in Noida Christ in fact was critical of the rich robbing the poor and then easing their conscience by giving away a tenth of their wealth in tithes Here too we hear stories of underworld dons attempting to atone for their sins by doling out a fraction of their loot to the poor This however violates both the letter and spirit of tithing Loving KindnessThere is the dasvandh in Sikhism besides their regular practice of sewa and helping and contributing to the langar or community kitchen run by the gurudwaras the zakat in Islam and references to generous giving in almost every faith including Buddhism and Jainism New age beliefs such as reiki and pranic healing have their own versions of tithes terming it as acts of loving kindness Pranic healing master Choa Kok Sui for instance would ask followers to donate at least 10 per cent of their income to the needy says pranic healer Sangeeta Bansal who is associated with the Manilabased World Pranic Healing Foundation Master would recommend sowing in the name of God the good karma then comes back to you multiplied many times she says Consider donations as an investment For all your incarnations to come you will never sleep on an empty stomach Bansal adds Giving freely generously and cheerfully is the essence of tithes reiterates Pastor Arvind Balaram of the Delhi Bible Fellowship at Gurgaon He advocates Giving from your heart and tells the members of his parish to choose any channel the church direct donations or through an NGOBangalorebased Guru Shri Nimishananda says People think charity means donating money or clothes to the poor This is charity no doubt but even if you ve wiped a single tear or removed a little pain you ve made a difference And that s what tithing is all about Begin with what you can donate even one or two per cent of your income is a great start but give with respect love gratitude and feel honoured that you have been given a chance to serve your fellow menIt s not just money you can give of your time knowledge or simply teach There is no greater joy in the world than seeing someone go for higher studies or swing a better job with a bit of help from youTithing NetworkWhile there are any number of miraculous stories posted on the Internet on the joy and rewards of giving there are also detractors who say the poor should work hard to better their lot and not depend on others A site dedicated to spread the joy of giving also lists some 30 excuses people quote for not giving or for postponing that decision by one more year The late Claude Rosenberg a Stanford University business graduate and American philanthropist ran the New Tithing Group an outfit that began persuading the rich that they could significantly increase their charitable work by giving while also shrinking their tax bill Rosenberg was also the author of Wealthy and Wise How You And America Can Get The Most Out Of Your Giving Little Brown The book details how wealthy people can afford to give more to charity through sound budgeting Incidentally their research showed that the middle income group gives away a bigger chunk of their savings than do wealthy peopleStart A WaveMost NGOs use this taxsaving concept Save Money while changing a life as a slogan to raise money A website runs a payroll giving programme in leading Indian companies Employee donations are channelled through their monthly salaries making donations a regular habit Their philosophy is Everyday acts of kindness can turn into a wave of good Some employers send out mails that say Give away the cost of one movie ticket or half a pizza a month to the poor However the spirit of giving entails giving not just tangible items but perhaps more importantly it implies the sharing of one s time and skills For the giver grows richer by giving than by not giving

Sowmya Priya reminisces about her two priceless friends Vaibhav and Sobhnik Last Diwali my dad asked me to visit his friend along with him and I refused believing gifting to be a meaningless ritual for people to show off their wealth I considered myself unlucky in terms of friends being reserved since childhood So when our HR lecturer announced that we were supposed to sit according to groups that he had decided I wasnt pleased My previous experiences with groups were not happy ones When the members came near the podium I smiled at them but only Vaibhav returned my smile As we were a few members short he added the names of his friends Sobhnik a girl who had seemed nice whenever I had spoken to her During the sessions I spent a lot of time with Sobhnik She was an understanding and caring person The turning point of our friendship was the day I lost my wallet It seemed a bad omen as it was just before campus recruitment That day Sobhnik told me about a ritual of faith she practised and told me to write about the lost article on paper and wrap it in cloth preferably a dupatta and say a prayer Vaibhav got the message floated about my lost wallet through the BSchool office That day I felt though I lost my wallet I got two priceless friends Sobhnik had already been interviewed at a research firm but could not make it there We both got through the initial rounds My interview was scheduled after hers and she generously shared her experience which eventually helped me bag the job On the day of our prefinal class Vaibhav showed us two bracelets and asked us to pick one They were friendship bands he had bought in his ninth grade but didnt find anyone worthy enough to give them to It was really overwhelming Good times rush past too quickly and soon came the farewell Strangely I was happy because I was sure that time and distance would not let us forget each other They will always mean as much as they mean to me now We danced that day as if there would be no tomorrow Vaibhavs enthusiasm was infectious All three of us have settled professionally and this Diwali I have finally understood why people give gifts and sweets to their friends and family They are the real wealth of our life and by honouring that wealth we pay our tribute to the goddess of wealth

Look this one here is a rose that Viru created with no thorns says Girija Viraraghavan as she shows us around their quaint garden in Kodaikanal It s a beautiful yellow rose with no thorns the Ahimsa Rose That her spouse Viraraghavan chose to retire from the Indian Administrative Service at the age of 40 in order to breed and grow roses in a hill station is only one of the many exhilarating stories you are likely to hear from the charming couple whose home is a little Portuguese cottage surrounded by plants whenever they are not participating in international rose conventions and other plantrelated derringdos Girija is the first granddaughter of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan India s first vice president and second President His illustrious career as educationist and philosopherwriter needs no repetition here but the humility that Radhakrishnan exuded has certainly been inherited by his granddaughter who reels off botanical historical and local names of various flora as her adoring husband looks on Every bloom has an equally enthralling story behind it as do the trees and shrubs and whathaveyou As we admire the huge magnolia tree that produces fragrant white magnolia blooms Girija leads us to a Magnolia garrettii a rare now endangered variety whose flowers are red Enthused by our interest she generously gifts three precious saplings to us three sisters The garden tour now complete we repair to the cosy living room where hot potato bondas and Japanese tea await us hungry souls As I browse through the collection of wellthumbed books I spy a brand new one that says Delhi Thatha A Great Grand Story by Chitra Viraraghavan published by Seagull Books It is about S Radhakrishnan written by Girija s daughter Chitra reminiscing her days as a sevenyearold with her greatgrandfather Perhaps the illustrated book is meant for children but I could not put it down till I had turned the very last page This book is so interesting I remark as I close it and hand it back to her Girija promptly displays an armful of books on the coffee table some authored by Chitra a writer and others by her satiristspouse Krishna Shastri Devulapalli I begin to read a short story by him titled Tere Mere Beach Mein of the author s octogenarian Dad and his chance encounter with a 70something woman on the beach I am in splits In a spontaneous gesture Girija gifts the book to me and pours out steaming hot Jap chai As we tuck in we are privy to delightful recounting of stories related to the Delhi Thatha as that is how Radhakrishnan s grandchildren and greatgrandchildren who lived in Chennai then Madras and other places would refer to him More than the fact that he was a celebrated Presidentphilosopher that he found the time and inclination to engage with tiny tots in endearing ways is perhaps what prompted Chitra to relive her days with her Thatha as a sevenyearold Although this writeup is not really about Teacher s Day it certainly is a tribute to one of the greatest teachers of modern India S Radhakrishnan in whose honour we celebrate teachers and who despite all his knowledge erudition and status in life was humility personified and was the confidante and playmate of little children for whom his age was not even a number Post your comments at speakingtreein

King Solomon was known for his wisdom One day two women came to the king with a child each claiming the child was hers and not the others Calmly the king asked for a sword and said Cut the living child in two and give half to one half to the other The woman who was the mother of the child pleaded I beg you give her the live child on no account kill him But the other said He shall belong to neither of us Cut him in half The king gave his decision Give the live child to thefirst woman he said She is his mother This wisdom Solomon received from Yahweh God For Solomon loved Yahweh and followed the precepts of his father David Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream God said Ask what you would like me to give you Solomon replied You showed most faithful love to your servant David my father when he lived his life before you in faithfulness and uprightness and integrity of heart you have continued loving him by allowing a son of his on this throne today You have made yourservant as king in succession to David my father But i am young unskilled in leadership And here is your servant surrounded with your people whom you have chosen a people so numerous that they cannot be counted or reckoned So give your servant a heart to understand how to govern your people how to discern between good and evil for how could one otherwise govern such a great people as yours It pleased Yahweh that Solomon should have asked for this Since you have asked for this God said and not for long life or riches for yourselfor the lives of your enemies but have asked for a discerning judgment for yourself here and now I give you a heart wise and shrewd as no one had and no one will have after you What you have not asked I shall give you too such riches and glory as no other king can match And I shall give you a long life if you follow my ways keeping my laws and commandments as your father David followed themThough he was king Solomon was humble and admitted his inadequacies In all humility he requested for an understanding heart not to show his prowess and supremacy over his people but to be able to lead and guide those placed in his careWe too in our humble circumstanceshave people in our care We may be parents teachers mentors leading people in attaining goals In the process we may have to exercise controls are forced to make choices in the face of uncertainties The Lord says Any of you who lacks wisdom must ask God who gives to all generously and without scolding it will be given But the prayer must be made with faith and no trace of doubtLove of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom to love God with ones heart and soul and also to love one another To attain wisdom wehave to aspire to serve the Lord

GUEST EDITOR SHANTANU NAGARKATTI Diagnosed with a terminal illness Norman Cousins sought refuge in laughter Locking himself in a hotel room he watched funny and humourous films all day long Norman discovered that 10 minutes of laughter gave him two hours of respite from painAfter six months of laughter therapy doctors told Norman Cousins there was no evidence of disease in his body The book Anatomy Of An Illness narrates this inspiring story Documented in medical journals and popular magazines across the world it inspired Laughter as Therapy in today s hospitals and cancer centresOnly you can make the choice whether you want to live in a pain body fear body or bliss body That choice will define the rest ofyour lifeAs my lead article describes there are secular religious and spiritual paths to bliss You may choose from them individually or in combination I believe the best method is to remember God and forget oneselfReligious ecstasy is an altered state of consciousness Here there is little awareness of the external world expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness take centre stage There may be visions and emotional euphoria Perception of Time Space and Self changes or disappears during ecstasyAcross geography history and religions ecstatic states continue to draw seekers On a visit to Turkey I first witnessed the allure of Sufi dancing Narayani Ganesh writes on Sufi Heaven and describes an intoxicating technique for instant bliss Indian classical dancers also experience similar ecstatic statesSadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and other revered spiritual masters generously share their intimate moments of bliss with us They also tell us how disciples mirror their bliss experience In Tickled Pink Munish Sabharwal describes the bliss of pilgrimage and shares his beautiful photographs of Jaipur On the path of yoga Surakshit Goswami explains that attachment to happiness is the last obstacle to transcending the bodymind confinement Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha in Gita The Inside Story reveals the Vaishnava secret on how one must approach the Bhagwad Gita As an eternal studentteacher of the Gita for the last 30 years I agree with the master s views Vaishnava Bhakti places special emphasis on ecstasy as the result of intense devotion to Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lived in an ecstatic state for much of his lifeAdvances in neuroimaging in the last 20 years tell us more about the brain than we ever learnt in all of history We can see how in realtime thinking of God alters the brain and we see no centre or locus exists for the ego or selfScience now proves what saints and scriptures have declared from the beginning of time There is no ego or little self within your head or body This is the greatest illusion Its discovery is enlightenment Paradoxically Selfrealisation is the realisation there is no selfIn Shelf Life on page 8 I include four books that are essential secular reading for those who seek enlightenment They speak in one voice the self or ego is an illusion I trust this issue will encourage and inspire you to progress toward bliss and enlightenment Good luck

M P K KUTTY tells the story of P P JOB who extended himself to allThe story of Job in the Bible is about a wealthy man who faces calamity after calamity and is at the end struck by a severe skin disease Even the devout man s wife cries out in desperation Curse God and die But Job never lost faith In the end God compensates him handsomely for all that he had undergoneIn the film Titanic when the unsinkable ship starts to sink after hitting an iceberg people scramble madly to get into a rescue boat but the ship s music band continues to play The last hymn they play is Nearer my God to Thee The commitment and faith of the band in the film so impressed this reallife Job from Kunnamkulam in Kerala that he couldn t stop referring to it in his autobiography Turn Your Sorrow written to commemorate the death of his two sons aged 21 and 34 in violent accidents in the year 1999 and 2007 respectively This Job came from a poor struggling family and made a living selling peanuts at a bus stand He had a devout mother given to a life of piety Always hospitable she would serve her guests generously while there would be very little left for her own four children writes JobOvercoming TragedyOn her insistence Job enrolled himself in a theology school and landed in Delhi in the 60s as a smalltime preacher He could barely speak correct Malayalam or English but went on to preach to massive gatherings in Mumbai and Chennai He came to be internationally renowned when he accompanied Rev Richard Wurmbrand in his crusade against atheism to communist nationsDr Job had always wondered why the Lord had brought tragedies in his life like snatching away his sons in the prime of their youth But he had firm faith that he would get to know the reality when he would meet his MasterAround this time he came across desperate appeals by guardians and NGOs wanting to find shelter and protection for orphan girls He found that while people were willing to adopt orphan boys there were no takers for girls It struck him that every orphaned girl s life story was similar to the tragedy he had undergone in his lifeA Life Of DignityA wellwisher had offered him a plot of barren land in Coimbatore His desire to set up a memorial for his sons now turned into a crusade to help abandoned girl children survive Thus an orphanage came into being with just 31 girls orphaned in tragic and traumatic circumstancesElectricity water and other facilities needed for this orphanage was nothing short of miracles Gradually a higher secondary school a college of arts and sciences and a college of education for girls became a reality The orphanage grew to house more than 350 girls who looked up to Dr P P Job as their Papa He prepared them for a life of dignity and honour Job would often say The Lord took away my two sons but gave me 356 little daughters from all over the world to look after nourish and nurture Today the institution started by Jobs provides educational facilities to 2 000 girl students By the grace of God Job the povertystricken boy who put to test his mustardsized faith gained his doctorate for his missionary work He travelled across 130 countries and received several honours and awards He passed away this August in Hungary at the age of 67 but the Michael Job institutions for women in Coimbatore stand as testimony of his committment to save the girl child with the slogans Adoption is better than abortion mpkkuttygmailcom

A poster I recently read got me thinking It said The grass is always greener where you water it I thought of what some people speak of as miracles and some call luck both groups refer to something desired but kindofunexpected In both instances one feels a bit surprised What is often ignored is the background to the actual lucky event or miracle Of course miracles sometimes do hit us seemingly out of the blue that s why we call them miracles If we believe or have some faith then we tend to notice these small or big miracles If we don t or even are pessimistic it is all too easy to overlook them when they do happen But there is an element of what in modern books we read as Believe it and you will see it or Just act as if There is an old story that different storytellers interpret in different ways I prefer to look at it as a great example of believing something and then acting in consonance with that belief A Taoist master was approached by members of a village during a time of great drought They confessed trying many other approaches before reaching out to him but with no success so they now asked if he could help bring rain to their dry fields The master agreed and asked for a small hut with a garden that he could tend For three days he tended the garden Much to the surprise of the villagers he performed no special rituals chanted no particular prayers or needed anything more from them All he did was to plant seeds and carefully work on his garden On the fourth day rain began to fall on the parched earth When asked how he had achieved such a miracle the master simply smiled It was left to the villagers to later recall and recount how even in that dry spell he had lovingly cared for the garden as if he expected the rainwater to come and complete his task Many people consider themselves to be either lucky or unlucky But these words attributed to Roman philosopher Seneca are worth a second thought Luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity Good luck like good faith works much in the same way as bad luck or lack of faith During a terrible flood a pious man trapped on a rooftop prayed fervently and expressed strong conviction that God himself would rescue him He refused offers of help telling a neighbour then a boatman and finally a helicopter rescue team that a bigger power God himself had promised to save him In the end the waters rose above him and he drowned Meeting God in the afterlife he expressed his deep disappointment that despite his unshakable faith God seemed to have let him down and God tenderly reminded him that He had sent not one but three of his representatives to rescue the poor foolish man Socalled lucky people generate their own good fortune or miracles mainly by being attentive to subtler signs and opportunities They listen to their intuition as well as logically analyse things when making decisions They create selffulfilling prophesies through fostering positive expectations They don t allow disappointment or slowness in getting results make them give up and they generously become conduits of miracles that benefit others Choosing to live with wise faith in things not seen not proven and not guaranteed we replace the limited and predictable and tap into the unlimited power of the possible

Happiness is an eternal innate quality of the soul We lose our connection with this inner resource when we are focused on the externals our body roles relations responsibilities and possessions The more we are caught up in these the less happy we feel When our focus is external we often tend to blame other people and situations for our unhappiness We think that if people or circumstances that make us unhappy go away we will be happy We forget that to be happy or not is our choice not chance People or situations can t alter the state of your mind unless you allow them to If you are determined to stay happy come what may nobody and nothing can make you unhappy How we feel in a situation is decided by how we choose to respond to it If things are going your way you will certainly have no reason to be cross But if they are not you need not get upset about that You can see what can be done about it and do things differently next time And even if there is nothing you can do about it you can learn from the experience and move on How does getting angry or disappointed help me It only takes away my happiness and reduces my ability to deal with the situation Bringing God into the picture makes it easier If you are in a position of responsibility where youI have to face many challenges you can become tense or worried But if you have a loving relationship with God and trust that He is there to help you you can entrust all worries to Him and see how He makes things work out well This does not mean disowning responsibility but letting your intellect to be guided by God s wisdom to find the right solution to problems It enables you to stay happy and carefree like a child who has an adult to take care of all his worries Having faith in the intrinsic goodness of every human soul and the understanding that everyone is playing his role in this world drama also helps to accept all kinds of situations and appreciate different types of people It saves us from being judgemental which can make our attitude towards other people negative and damage our relationships In their quest for happiness people go to great lengths to get good health and wealth They believe that these are the keys to happiness In fact it is the other way round if you are happy you will be healthy It is said that happiness is the best nourishment When we are happy the body s nervous and endocrine systems work optimally ensuring secretion of healthy hormones and smooth running of biochemical processes to keep us healthy And a happy state of mind will also attract good fortune You will be content regardless of your circumstances and contentment is not only a great wealth in itself but also a magnet for new opportunities The biggest secret to happiness is to have good wishes and pure feelings in your heart for everyone no matter who they are whether friends or foes and even if they have defamed or hurt you in the worst way When we have good feelings for others we can feel a state of constant happiness The best way to increase happiness is to share it with others Hence be happy and share it generously to fly high in spirits